The Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised Sunday afternoon the alert status
on Mayon Volcano to Alert Level 4 out of a maximum of five alert levels—meaning
that a major eruption is possible within days.
"This means that a hazardous
explosive eruption is possible within days. Thus, areas expected to be affected
by such eruption will be accordingly extended,” Phivolcs said in its Bulletin
no. 7 of Mt. Mayon issued at 2:30 p.m.
Phivolcs said that to ensure
the safety of the public, it is recommending an Extended Danger Zone from the
summit of eight kilometers at the southern sector and seven kilometers at the
northern sector of the restive volcano in Albay province.
"Areas just outside of this
Extended Danger Zone should prepare for evacuation in the event explosive
eruptions intensify,” Phivolcs warned.
Alert level 4 means a volcano
is exhibiting low-frequency quakes, intense crater glow and lava fragments in
the summit.
Earlier Sunday,
meteorologists said a potential storm is threatening to hit the southern part
of the country and bring heavy rains to Albay.
The state-run Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said heavy
rain in the area could trigger dangerous ‘lahar’ flow from the slopes of Mayon
Volcano.
PAGASA Director Prisco Nilo
said they are monitoring the development of the low-pressure area —a
rain-inducing weather system—located some 3,000 kilometers east of northern
Mindanao Sunday.
Nilo said the LPA, in case it
develops into a storm, could threaten the Visayas and northern Mindanao and
could help intensify the northeast monsoon locally known as "amihan” and bring
rains to Albay.
"Lalakas ang ulan sa Albay
kung tatama ng Visayas ang bagyo,” Nilo told the Manila Bulletin when asked
whether Albay would be affected by the potential storm.
PAGASA weather forecaster
Connie Rose Dadivas said the LPA might enter the Philippine Area of
Responsibility after Christmas Day.
Records show that storms in
December could be deadly, particularly for the Bicol region.
In December 2006, heavy rains
from typhoon "Reming” (international name: Durian) caused landslides and floods
at the base of Mayon Volcano, resulting in the deaths of 1,266 people.
Mt. Mayon erupted in August
of the same year, resulting to the evacuation of 48,000 people, and depositing
huge pyroclastic materials in its slopes that cascaded as lahar when Reming
struck.
However, Robert Sawi, chief
of PAGASA's weather forecasting section, said the LPA might have a slim chance
of hitting the Philippines which was already visited by 22 typhoons in 2009,
including "Ondoy” and "Pepeng” which submerged large areas in Luzon during the
last quarter.
"May nakikita tayo sa Pacific
na possible formation pero malabo pang pumasok dahil may kalamigan na ang
panahon at kung mag-develop man ito (into a storm) ay baka matunaw din,” Sawi
told the Bulletin.
Dadivas said that hopefully,
a frontal system near the LPA would affect its direction and pull it away from
the Philippines. Phivolcs said Mt. Mayon continued to exhibit a high level of
activity.
"A total of 222 volcanic
quakes and tremors were recorded by the seismic network. One of these events
was an explosion-type earthquake that produced a dirty white to grayish ash
column that reached a maximum height of about 500 meters above the summit
before drifting southwest,” according to a Phivolcs 24-hour observation report
for Dec. 19 that ended at 7 a.m. Sunday.Harmonic tremors were continuously
recorded by the seismic instruments, Phivolcs said.
"During a cloud break this
morning, steaming activity ranged from dirty white to light brown in color.
Night observation still showed intensified crater glow and continuous rolling
down of incandescent materials from the crater,” the report added.
On the other hand, advancing lava flow from
Mayon has now reached approximately 4.5 kilometers downslope from the crater
along the Bonga-Buyuan Gully. Sulfur dioxide emission also increased from 2,034
tons per day to 7,024 tons per day.
